One of the ways I’ve found in the past to get through the hellscape that is the January and February movie season is by zeroing in on one or two movies I’m actually looking forward to and focusing on them. This allows me to have some hope for the future while simultaneously helping me ignore the ocean of garbage then tends to come out in those the early months of the year.

And as anyone who follows me on Twitter would know, for most of this year, the movie I’ve been focusing on has been Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (…okay also It Follows but this won the toss up). So when the universe finally saw fit to bring it within a reasonable distance of me, I went to see it as fast as I possibly could.

The plot is a heavily fictionalized retelling of the urban legend surrounding the death of Takako Konishi (no that’s not a spoiler, it deviates pretty heavily from reality). Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) is a underpaid and overworked Office Girl living in Tokyo. She is also possibly mentally ill, or at the very least extremely isolated and depressed, but the movie is unspecific.

About the only thing she can focus on is an aging copy of Fargo on VHS. She obsessively watches the scene where Steve Buscemi buries the million dollars in the snow over and over, completely convinced that the film is real and the money is really out there. After a series of events repeatedly demonstrate to her how her life is going nowhere, she steals her company’s credit card and flies to America, determined to find the money.

Of course piggybacking off Fargo, a modern classic (and one of my personal favorites) is already rather bold, even if the connection is tangential. I’m happy to say though that the film avoids anything that could be termed ‘Fanservice.’ No cameos from actors from Fargo, no revisiting locations, not even an appearance of the Minnesota Nice accent, which you would expect would be a natural fit. The movie, as the title implies, is much more about Kumiko and her journey, both psychological and physical.

“Okay Bunzo, your motivation for this scene is: You are a bunny.”

In that respect, a lot of the movie is riding on Rinko Kikuchi. As her performance in Babel proved, she’s a brilliant actress in the right role and well versed at acting without speaking. Her character’s inability to properly communicate is at the center of her character, fueling her isolation and inability to explain her goal.

The movie, as is so often the case with good movies, never feels like telling us what exactly is wrong with her (although something clearly is) and it’s therefore up to Kikuchi to let us know what she’s thinking, and more importantly, sell the fact that no one else can figure out what she’s thinking. It’s an odd performance, made up of ticks and stares and odd misinterpreting of social cues, but it’s definitely a memorable one.

She doesn’t get much support from the rest of the cast, as even the most heavily used supporting character (a Policeman played by the director, David Zellner) is barely in the movie. Her mother, who is clearly pretty key to why she’s isolated, never so much as appears on screen, acting as a hovering presence over the whole movie. Instead, the most heavy support she gets is from the director. The film is incredibly focused on her, without even so much as a jump to another character’s perspective.

“I’m looking for the brothel Carl and Gaear visit to use as a starting point…Yes that’s the only reason!”

The editing and cinematography back this up, even if the director is clearly a little too enamored with a character leaving and returning to a held shot. The tight focus on Kumiko and long held shots help put the audience in her mindset, and emphasize the awkwardness that she clearly feels. I expected a major shift in camera work or editing once she arrived in the US, but the movie instead relies on Kikuchi’s performance to sell how out of her element she is, which really just helps emphasize that she was out of her element back home.

The other major element that stood out to me is the music, courtesy of the Octopus Project. The soundtrack jumps from soft melodies to loud discordant music and noises, depending on how the lead character is feeling, and I found it quite absorbing. my viewing companion found it rather hard to listen to, especially in the theater, so it’s possible I’m just completely insane.

If I have a complaint, it’s the usual complaint about good movies; There’s not enough of it. In particular the third act and climax feel very slight. I understand that, given the material, the climax was always going to be quiet, but the lead in to the ending featured a fantastic sequence that managed to get us deep into Kumiko’s rapidly fraying psyche and how terrifying it is to be lost in the wilderness with only some well used lighting and editing, and I’d like to have seen more of that.

“Okay the breach is here, so the Kaiju will be coming out of…wait a minute!”

The downside to being focused on waiting for one movie for the first couple months of the year is that if that movie disappoints me, it hits all the harder (and I tend to spend the next couple weeks despairingly avoiding the theater…I never said I wasn’t dramatic). Luckily, that’s not the case this time; Kumiko is a fascinatingly unique take on an interesting subject, and easily worth seeing if it’s playing near you. It took nearly 3 full months, but 2105 finally has its first great movie.

Elessar is a 25 year old Alaskan born cinephile and if Kumiko was paying more attention, she might have noticed that the majority of Fargo actually takes place in Brainerd.

Pros:

– fantastic and memorable performance from Rinko Kikuchi

– unique subject and interesting approach to it

– great screenplay and direction

Cons:

– ending is abrupt and third act is brief

– soundtrack is pretty odd. I liked it, but you might not

Rating: 4/5

]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/29/review-kumiko-the-treasure-hunter/feed/0Review: Darth Vader #3http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/29/review-darth-vader-3/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/29/review-darth-vader-3/#commentsSun, 29 Mar 2015 21:02:11 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35308[...]]]>With the Death Star destroyed and the Empire in shambles, Darth Vader is left in a precarious situation. After his primary space station was destroyed, along with the extensive fleet and military presence aboard the Death Star, what will he do to replace those lost soldiers? While the Empire is not one to mourn, it is one to count its losses and find a way to reform itself and find a way back to the top.

Over the past 2 issues we have seen glimpses of Vader’s hidden agenda as he attempts to re-strengthen his fleet and gain his vengeance against the rebels responsible for the Death Star’s destruction. In issue one, we watched as Darth contracted Boba Fett to find Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon, as well as Luke Skywalker. In issue two, he weeds out dissension in his ranks. Where does Vader go from there? He creates an army of unmistakably loyal soldiers! How? I’ll tell you how, right now!

Our issue does NOT begin following Darth Vader, but instead follows an Indiana Jones analogue named Doctor Aphra. Yes, a series that already includes Harrison Ford has an INDIANA JONES analogue character. I was surprised too. Doctor Aphra is a professor of cybernetics and robotics, and as such her current mission is to retrieve the personality Matrix to a special Protocol Droid. She attempts to fight her way out of the compound holding the Matrix’s defenses, but is eventually detained by security. The security forces actually utilize re-purposed Super battle droids as their main guards, and they easily detain Aphra.

It is here where I create the parallel to Indiana Jones. When captured and questioned regarding the theft of the personality Matrix, she retorts with a speech similar, yet the polar opposite of Indiana Jones’ speech regarding the Coronado Cross from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. “IT BELONGS IN AN ARMORY!” She screams as she is being interrogated, but said interrogation is soon interrupted by the arrival of Darth Vader who has sought out Dr. Aphra and her expertise with droids.

Vader saves Aphra and returns her to her ship where she inserts the chip into a protocol droid body, revealing it to be the Hannibal Lecter equivalent of C-3PO. While most protocol droids are designed with the express purpose of etiquette and protocols, this one was also designed with a homicidal streak, and was known for killing any organics it came in contact with and draining them of their blood; a rather gruesome outcome, to be frank. But this droid was not her primary mission. She resurrected this droid so she could use him to activate a different droid, one that only responds to a language known by very few. A language that this protocol droid, named 0-0-0 or Triple Zero, happens to speak.

They manage to wake up the sleeping astromech droid with 0-0-0’s help, ONLY TO BE GREETED WITH FIRE AND PLASMA! Aphra explains that this astromech is known as a prototype BLASTOMECH droid. A specialized covert assassin droid designed to infiltrate an enemy base posing as a standard astromech droid. Aphra was contracted to find and revive both of these special Empirial protoype droids and deliver them to said employer. However, with Lord Vader looming over her, she realizes that she had best comply with any and all demands he may make, as he has more power than she could ever hope to muster. She declares the droids his, and asks him what he needs.

Vader declares he is in need of an army with unquestionable loyalty. Aphra immediately understands he is looking to re-purpose old battle droids from the Clone Wars for the Empire. She knows of one exceptional droid facility, but requires his help in gaining access to it. This facility’s location? GEONOSIS!

Overall, this title is performing very well and is definitely a fun read. I enjoy seeing things from Vader’s point of view. Yet, without thought/narration boxes, the dark lord’s mystique and mystery remain in tact. The reader is left to interpret his emotions merely from his words, as even the most skilled artists can only convey so many emotions through the guise of Vader’s helmet. If I have any complaints, it is that this issue focused primarily on Aphra, as opposed to Vader himself, and felt more like an intro to the next story arc, as opposed to a full tale in and of itself. I’ll still be reading, but this was not the strongest issue thus far.

Pros:

-The dark lord remains mysterious and makes for an interesting character to analyze

-A new interesting character is introduced (hopefully a recurring character for the series)

]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/29/review-darth-vader-3/feed/0Review: The Flash: ‘Rogue Time’http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/27/review-the-flash-rogue-time/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/27/review-the-flash-rogue-time/#commentsSat, 28 Mar 2015 00:00:21 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35296[...]]]>Well, on the one hand, I was right about a lot of last week’s kind of rushed but admittedly pretty awesome climax being undone by the very end of the episode.

On the other hand, for the way it developed this week, I really don’t mind it. While this isn’t as strong an episode, it’s still a very good follow-up.

Picking up in the aftermath of last week, Barry has come to realize he’s traveled backwards in time. His first impulse is to act on that classic impulse that comes with future knowledge – staying two steps ahead to move things in a good direction.

The idea that Barry quickly detains Mardon based on that future knowledge, while admittedly kind of cheap, is also pretty damn amusing in terms of its execution. Besides, given how much of the rest of that future knowledge gets thrown back in his face (as is often the case in these stories to teach people not to screw with space time), no sense not letting him at least have this one.

“Oh, COME ON!”

The time travel admittedly isn’t the main focus of the episode, though it does still see a good amount of focus. Besides just introducing it, the main aim of that plot really helps in re-establishing why Harrison is still as trusted as he is. For as sometimes cold and calculating as he can seem, sometimes he is right- as he is in telling Barry not to mess with the flow of events based on future knowledge.

The blowout DOES also address one of my issues from last week, and even seems to hang the proverbial lampshade on it – after how quickly the prior episode cleared the road between Barry and Iris,this week threw a bunch of hurdles right back into it. Barry’s unflagging optimism is actually kind of sad to watch as his attempts to re-stage the situation again just get more people mad at him rather than bringing anyone closer.

“I appreciate the parka, I really do. But really, you villains have gotta start getting into the costume side of this more. I feel like I’m overdressed next to this!”

Besides the time travel, this week marks the return of Leonard Snart and Mick Rory, now up Snart’s sister Lisa (Peyton List) as well. One of the things I have to hand to how the show has handled these characters – even when they lack their signature weapons, they still find ways to make the team formidable threats. Yes, even with the sometimes hilariously hammy performance by Dominic Purcell as Rory/Heat Wave.

Said threat is brought up in full swing with a storyline that puts Cisco (thankfully still alive after last week) into focus. For a character we’ve seen every week, this is our first real look at his life outside of STAR Labs, and while it’s a sort of story we’ve likely all heard told before, it’s played well. At the point where when Snart decides to motivate Cisco by threatening his brother (Nicholas Gonzalez)- a man the show has established he is somewhat estranged from- the scene hits pretty hard. It’s not overwrought, but you can’t help but feel for the guy in that moment.

I look at this face and I keep remembering ‘This is the guy they trust the super flamethrower with.’It’s a good thing.

Actually, I know I already gave him a direct shoutout last week, but in light of this week as well, I do have to again express my satisfaction with how Carlos Valdes has played Cisco on the show so far. For a character that was initially just a humorous support, he’s done a lot with really showing some of the inner conflicts the guy has going on behind the smiles and easygoing nicknames. Makes me that much happier to see that plot point from last week was undone – it was a great scene, but it’d be a shame to lose Valdes after a performance like that.

For an episode that could be somewhat cynically seen as resetting the status quo, the overall episode doesn’t actually feel like. Even though the events have been undone, the fact Barry remembers them means we will likely see their shadow over future events. Plus, the introduction of time travel makes this feel more like a new chapter in the story has begun rather than business as usual.

“You want to know how it could get worse? This show killed me last week! They undid it, sure, but my point remains – it can always get worse!”

On that note, I have to say, I’m pretty excited for next week’s episode. It may not be as much of a game changer as the last few weeks have been, but the idea of Mark Hamill returning to the screen to appear as the villain the Trickster has me pretty sold on seeing how Tricksters turns out.

Till then.

Pros:

-Does a good job of running counter to the ‘I can make everything right cause I know the future’ idea

-Another great week for Carlos Valdes

Cons:

-While the time travel is something of a game changer, it gets backburnered in lieu of the Rogues storyline

-The fate of Mason at the end of this episode is something had kind of seen coming. Not all bad, but it was inevitable, really.

I almost didn’t want to read this issue. No, it’s not because I don’t like this miniseries; quitetheopposite. However, with all of the amazing buildup during the past three issues, I had no clue how Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, and Paolo Rivera would wrap up this epic battle between good and evil. Still, it was hard to contain my excitement as I cracked open the pages of the final installment of The Valiant.

The final melee for the fate of Geomancer Kay McHenry commences. While Bloodshot battles against the monstrous Mr. Flay, Neville Alcott and company attempt to crack open the mysterious box recovered during Bloodshot’s covert mission. In the far flung future, the battle between Gilad and the Immortal Enemy rages on, unhalted by the events of the present. Yet the contents of the box may offer a final hope to defeat this horrid monstrosity, and return the Earth to an age of peace.

Writing duo Kindt and Lemire close out this final chapter of the prestige series in a manner befitting the Valiant Universe. The ending lacks a true resolution, which is somewhat irksome, but is more realistic; what story truly ends? How does one judge victory or defeat? These are lingering questions I pondered as I closed this comic.

The character work continues to be a high point in this installment. Without question, this issue contained the single best portrayal of Bloodshot thus far, which increases my excitement for next month’s Bloodshot Reborn #1. Everything from Flay’s disturbing dialogue, to Bloodshot’s resolve, to Kay’s inner turmoil lights up the narrative. Gripping scenes abound, and it’s difficult to divorce yourself from the narrative as you read, such is the quality of immersion.

Speaking of getting lost in the story, the Riveras (Paolo and Joe) once again provide tantalizing visuals. The Immortal Enemy continues to be the star of the show, as his myriad forms add to his disturbing nature, notably in one scene where Flay’s arm extends to snap Bloodshot’s neck. The high energy battle scenes are the best of the series yet, and watching Bloodshot and Kay struggle against their attacker added to the heightened drama.

Letterer Dave Lanphear does stellar work in this issue as well, and I was glad to see him offer commentary on his process in the back of this issue. I say it often enough to sound like a broken record, but letterers rarely get the respect they deserve. It’s clear Lanphear puts a lot of thought into his process.

Overall, The Valiant #4 exemplifies why Valiant is arguably the best publisher in comics today. It was a superb ending to a stunning series that kept me hugely invested, interested, and entertained these past four months. Though the ending didn’t wrap everything up in a neat package, it helped to lay the groundwork for the next era of the Valiant Universe. This is an amazing series, and I strongly suggest anyone and everyone check it out.

Pros:

-emotionally gripping story

-unexpected, powerful conclusion

-stunning visuals

Cons:

-lack of resolution

Rating: 4.5/5

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]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/26/silverwolfs-den-the-valiant-4/feed/0Review: Pepe – CLChttp://moarpowah.com/2015/03/25/review-pepe-clc/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/25/review-pepe-clc/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2015 17:30:28 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35273[...]]]>Hey y’all! Cube Entertainment recently debuted a new girl group, and as a fan of Apink, I was really excited to see how this group would do. CLC (Crystal Clear)’s debut MV was released a week ago, so I’m a bit behind on the times, but I’ve finally seen the video and I can’t wait to talk about it! Without further ado, let’s take a look at CLC’s debut single, Pepe!

There aren’t any videos with English subtitles yet, so here’s the official MV and you can read the translated lyrics here!

The song has a retro vibe, a bit like TaeTiSeo’s first song, Twinkle, as well as some Wonder Girls songs. I don’t think this is a bad thing- I think it was really well done, and the song is really fun to listen to. It’s upbeat, and showcases each member’s singing abilities. After a few listens, I already had the chorus stuck in my head, and I didn’t mind having it there.

When I first watched the video, I wondered how similar CLC would be to Apink. At first, it seems like they’re going for the same cute concept Apink has been known for, with high ponytails and flouncy dresses. But when the chorus kicks in, the concept grows up a bit. They aren’t full-out sexy, but in their pink letterman jackets, they look more like your average girl group.

The most popular jacket style in K-pop.

The lyrics talk a boy who’s keeping a girl on the hook. I’m not sure what “Pepe” has to do with this, to be honest. It seems like the trend to use words that don’t necessarily have a meaning or any connection to the song’s message, just that they sound cute (La Cha Ta by f(x), Bubibu by Apink, so on and so forth). Maybe Pepe is his name?

This guy continues to play with the girl’s emotions and leave her hanging, and this song is about the breaking point when she says she won’t take it anymore. She recognizes his immaturity and isn’t going to stand for it anymore. It’s a bit of a break up song, but not a sad one, and it’s really fun to see something like this as a debut song.

“Peace, I’m out.”

The style of this video is young and fresh, with bright colors and fun outfits. The sets all stand out, and the video is entertaining, even though it’s incredibly simple. It really makes the individual members of the group stand out. At the end of the video, there’s even a section where they introduce the members with faux-polaroids. I thought that it was really clever for a rookie group to include something like that.

The video puts a new spin of the “music video in a box” trop (pun intended). Rather than be in a standard room or set, the girls are in various rooms that are furnished such that it looks like they’re standing on the ceiling, or one of the walls.

Some shots are static, some show the rooms spinning around. I thought it was a cute and simple, and also fit the lyrics- the upside down and spinning rooms reflecting how the girl feels being played by this guy. It doesn’t take a lot of money and effort to make a video that fits its song, and this video is only proof of that.

Gravity is broken!!

All in all, I think this was a very promising debut, and I can’t wait to see more from these girls. The song is catchy, the video is colorful and fun, and they don’t fall into every single K-pop trope in the book. It’s not the most original release, but I like that it wasn’t gimicky. It’s just a fun pop song, from a group of talented girls. I definitely recommend you check it out!

After a three-month pause, Wayward returns with its #6 issue, along with the Vol. 1 Trade Paperback of #1-5. Now’s a great time to catch up before the second arc gets too far. The end of the first story arc left off on a high point, with explosions and life-changers. Villains disappear in the confusion, and the team is split up. As the dust settles down, Wayward begins on a new thread. Here is a preview of what’s in store.

While our main cast is still MIA, the issue gives us a moment of stillness to introduce Ohara Emi, the average Japanese girl foil to Rori. In an opening that parallels Rori’s, Emi goes through the motions of her safe, routine life that ironically is exactly what Rori would give anything to have.

Emi is an interesting choice to lead the issue; she has her straight cut princess bangs and a powder blue ribbon at her collar and in her hair. Even though she’s wearing the same uniform as Rori, she gives off another look entirely. Her design suggests exactly her traditional, obedient Japanese mold that she fits right into.

In between ruminating on how her life is planned out for her; Emi does have a few quirks. For one, she is a little caught up with dreaming of potential romantic excitement out of her mangas – which oddly enough makes her the only character with love on her mind so far. When she speaks of her day-to-day living, the roteness bores her, but she doesn’t try anything daring.

Another thing, she seems to enjoy collecting gacha toys. To her, they’re cute, delicate, and in their own safe bubble. Beyond the obvious symbolism of the gashapon case, I wonder what deeper meaning is behind collecting tiny figurines.

To make up for their sudden disappearance, rumor mill at the school has it that Rori and Shirai ran off and committed suicide as star-crossed lovers. Rather than horrifying Emi, for some reason this fuels her fantasies. After only a two-second contact with Rori previously, something triggers inside her. This switch is soon completely flipped, and that supernatural something comes bubbling out of her much like the rapid development the others faced.

The story soon has Emi regretting she wished for anything more than what she had, because demonic appearances become very real. Thankfully, Ayane makes another timely rescue with a pleasantly shocking Nikaido, who looks more composed, if not confident now that he has more control of his mind-powers. Still, meeting Ayane face-to-face can be a slap in the face on your tidy life.

Though the story returns to its slower pace to brace the reader, I think it works when Emi’s introduction is placed next to Rori’s, who not too long ago was almost in her place. Again, we get a sweeping view of the area in Japan and snippets that begin to establish that who Emi says she is does not mean it’s who she’ll stay as.

Overall, Wayward #6 brings in teases of what’s to come. We wonder what’s to become of our new and old protagonists. Ayane’s gleefully bloody kitty eyes, along with a slightly less rumpled Nikaido is a sight for sore eyes. The comic is setting up for what hopefully is a delicious supernatural mystery.

Pros:

-Emi’s introduction sets up for what’s in store.

-Rori briefly appears, but not in the way you expect her to.

-Ayane and Nikaido’s powers are stepping it up a notch.

Cons:

-Is Emi an inverse Rori, or her own person? We’ve yet to see.

Rating: 4/5

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]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/25/review-wayward-6/feed/1Silverwolf Suggests: Saga Volume 1 (feat. Oliveblair)http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/23/silverwolf-suggests-saga-volume-1-feat-oliveblair/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/23/silverwolf-suggests-saga-volume-1-feat-oliveblair/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 13:00:25 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35200[...]]]>Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting edition of Silverwolf Suggests! Each month, I select three different comics for a friend that I think she or he will like. The friend then selects one of the three, and, if they like, I’ll purchase it for him or her. Later, we discuss the comic, the results of which are shared here!

This month, I’m joined by my friend Oliveblair, who read Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples at my recommendation. It’s a highly regarded comic, and so I was very intrigued to hear her thoughts on it.

Silverwolf: Thanks for joining me today, Olivia. Could you please begin by giving our readers a brief summary of Saga’s plot and atmosphere?

Oliveblair: Sure! Saga is a sci-fi comic set in a world where the inhabitants of a planet are at war with the inhabitants of its moon. The main characters are soldiers from opposing sides who meet and fall in love, eventually having a daughter. The story is at times narrated by the daughter as she’s looking back on her life growing up, and the lives of their parents as they have to live on the run in order to protect their child.

Silverwolf: Great, I couldn’t have said it better! What influenced you to choose Saga from among the titles I suggested last month?

Oliveblair: It was a really tough decision because all of your suggestions looked really interesting and entertaining, but in the end, I love a good tale of star-crossed lovers.

I think another influence was that I really liked the look of it. From what I saw in the previews on Comixology, the art was really aesthetically pleasing to me.

Silverwolf: That’s definitely something a lot of fans, myself included, agree upon. Fiona Staples has an amazing style, and she’s become wildly popular thanks to Saga. Heck, Archie Comics hired her to help relaunch their core title, so she’ll be redesigning Archie and the gang!

With all that said, do you have a particular moment from Volume 1 that you liked best, or that speaks to you the most?

Oliveblair: You’ll have to give me a second to think and reacquaint myself with where Volume 1 ends, because I read the entire comic shortly after finishing it.

Silverwolf: Wow! You beat me to the punch! I was going to ask later if you planned to keep reading, but it’s clear you liked it a lot! And sure, take your time.

Oliveblair: I don’t know if I can pick a moment, but a character that I really liked was The Will. The whole plot line with him and the slave girl was really emotionally compelling for me, and I liked that even though he was a mercenary, he had his own moral code and soft spots. Even though The Stalk was an awful person, I felt bad when she died because of his reaction.

Silverwolf: I love The Will myself. I think he works well as a character because how he’s defined by his actions. One scene he’ll be murdering people in cold blood, and the next he’ll be taking care of Lying Cat and saving the slave girl, as you mentioned. It’s really interesting, because he’s undeniably an antagonist from Alanna and Marko’s point of view, but a lot of what he does is heroic.

Nevertheless, though Saga is amazing, were there any moments or characters you weren’t particularly fond of?

Oliveblair: You know, the thing I really like about this comic is that it really makes an effort to flesh out characters and show their perspectives. Like you said about The Will, characters that are normally made to be antagonists are shown in a way that you sympathize with them. I think the characters were written really well, and I don’t think there’s one that I really disliked (except for maybe Mama Sun). There was an arc that I was less than fond of, but that happens in a latter issue so maybe I shouldn’t mention it.

Silverwolf: Well, you can mention it if you like. I just read the fourth volume about a month ago, so I’m mostly current. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of piece of the series, really.

Oliveblair: Oh, okay, so you’ve read this. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Gardenia arc, where Alana starts taking Fadeaway. As a plot point, it was necessary to show the main characters making mistakes, but I was just frustrated while I was reading it. I would have thought that as a mother and as a fugitive living in secret, Alana would have been more careful.

Silverwolf: I know what you mean, that was a difficult arc for me as well. I think one of the big points was that both Marko and Alana are still pretty young, and don’t have any real parenting experience. Up until that point, they’d pretty much been on the run nonstop, and it’s clear stress levels are high for both of them. Even so, I agree that a few issues in that arc weren’t quite up to the level of the previous ones, but were obviously still very good.

Now I’ve asked a lot of questions, but do you have any for me regarding Saga?

Oliveblair: Out of curiosity, who’s your favorite character so far?

Silverwolf: I’ll preface this by saying I often have a fondness for gruff, older characters, but I absolutely adore Klara. She’s just so darn gritty, and sassy, and tough, but at the end of the day she’s a loving and supportive mother who only wants what’s best for her family. When there’s trouble, Klara grabs a battleax without a thought and charges forward, even scolding Marko for being cowardly when their lives are on the line. I really love all the aspects of her character, and felt pretty sad when she lost Barr, only to lose Heist a few issues later.

Don’t mess with Klara!

Oliveblair:Wow, that’s so funny because Marko’s parents are my favorites too! I like Gwendolyn and The Brand, but I want to see more of them before I decide, so right now Klara and Barr are on top.

Silverwolf: Definitely, they’re great! Do you have any other questions for me? Or should we wrap things up?

Oliveblair: Just one last question! What made you decide to recommend Saga to me?

Silverwolf: Well, to be honest, of the people I’ve had to recommend comics to so far, you’ve been the toughest. I think part of that is a function of the fact that I’ve known you for a shorter amount of time than both Angeli and Vida, meaning it was harder to gauge your tastes.

With that in mind, however, I tried to think about some of the things I know you do enjoy, for instance a series like Arrow. Furthermore, Saga is a comic that has received a lot of well-deserved hype, and I’ve yet to meet a person who wasn’t fond of it, so it felt like a no-brainer to throw it on the list; it was actually the first one I selected!

Oliveblair: Well, you were right! I was hooked within the first issue, and I can’t wait for the next one to come out! Thank you so much for telling me about this awesome story.

Silverwolf: You’re welcome! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed Saga.

Anyway folks, that’s all the time we have this month. Come back again in 4 weeks or so to check out the next installment of Silverwolf Suggests!

I had no desire to see Divergent when it first came out. I was pretty young-adult-dystopia’d out at the time and I wanted to save my tolerance for when the new Hunger Games came out. Its reviews were not encouraging, but since I wanted to see the sequel to review, I figured I should give the original a shot. So I saw it the other night. How did that go, you ask?

Badly. I know nothing about the book but Divergent the movie is a hacky Frankenstein’s monster of a movie, with plot points, characters, ideas, and even whole scenes lifted from other better movies. I therefore did not go into Insurgent with much in the way of high expectations, but that’s not always a bad thing. Low expectations has consistently kept The Hunger Games on my good side. So, how did Insurgent do?

The plot is…well it’s a Young Adult Dystopia, you can probably sing along at this point. The lead is Tris (Shailene Woodley), who lives in future Chicago after some vaguely defined catastrophe and have got a giant ice wall, I mean a big fence to protect themselves from…something, I dunno if they said. To keep the peace, society has divided into five groups, named after a thesaurus look up of their dominant trait.

Dauntless (Gryffindor) are brave, Agnegation (Hufflepuff) are selfless, Candor (Ravenclaw) are honest, Erudite (Slytherin) are smart and Amity (if we have 5 we can’t be accused of ripping of Harry Potter) are peaceful. But a problem arises with people who are Divergent, which means they can belong more than one group, who can threaten the system because they…again, didn’t quite grasp that.

Anywho, in the last movie Tris was revealed to be Divergent but like everyone she got to choose her faction because…nope, didn’t get that either. She chose Dauntless, because she knew in these YA books, you gotta find Gryffindor and stick with it. She meets Four (Theo James) and promptly falls in love with him because of course she does.

“Hey, weren’t you her romantic interest in The Spectacular Now?”“Yeah, and her brother was her romantic interest in the Fault in Our Stars; this cast is pretty incestuous.”

After thwarting an attempt to seize control of the entire government by Erudite (Abnegation was in charge before, which raises a ton of questions but never mind), Tris and Four have to go on the run, trying to find the remaining members of their faction and try to stop Erudite from killing them and overstepping its bounds.

This is, simply put, not a good movie. It’s a bad one, and at points it flirts with being a terrible one. But it IS an improvement over the movie it’s a sequel to, enough of one for me to see that this concept might have something resembling potential if you ripped it to pieces and rebuilt it from the ground up…okay, maybe not a lot of potential, but still.

The thing at the root of the problem is the script. The movie is already working from a ludicrously on the nose metaphor for how young adults don’t feel like they fit in, and they movie is unwilling or unable to inject real depth into its cardboard cutout characters or their nearly nonexistent arcs. The dialogue is incredibly unsubtle, to the point where I half expected the Robot Devil to pop out of nowhere to complain about it.

Oh boy. I’ve seen enough anime to know where this is going.

It also has a bad case of what I’ve started to term ‘Adaptation Syndrome,’ where it expects the audience is already aware of certain things and doesn’t feel the need to tell us about them. A perfect example comes at the midpoint, where through a series of contrivances, a girl commits suicide and another girl acts exceptionally aggrieved about it.

That might be fine, but I had no idea who either of them were. Who are they, where did they meet, what is their relationship? Are they best friends, sisters, lovers, what? I have no idea. Hell, the only reason I could recognize one of the girls as a recurring character is because she looked enough like Jack from Mass Effect that I took note of her in crowd scenes.

This lack of explanation extends to everything. Technology that is absolutely vital to the plot seems to gain new abilities as the story demands. The geography is incredibly loose and it seems like the relationship and power structure between the factions shifts every other scenes. All of this stuff could be elaborated on or explained, but the movie seems to assume that we already know all this and just moves on.

“Okay Theo, this should cure your inability to act.”

The acting is up and down. Shailene Woodley is impressively committed to her performance. Oh, she’s given terrible stuff to read, but she is devoted as all hell to making it work, and there are brief moments where I get to see the potential I saw in her back in The Descendants.

Theo James is pretty boring overall, but I don’t think he was cast for his dramatic range so much as what he looks like without his shirt. Miles Teller is a good actor, but he is utterly unable to sell the sneering, Draco Malfoy character he needs to. Most of the more adult actors showing up for that sweet, sweet Hogwarts Faculty money are pretty checked out, although Daniel Dae Kim is okay (even if he reminds me a little too much of his character from Angel).

Okay, so far all I’ve really done is whine, but I did say it was better than Divergent, so what has improved? Well it’s got a better climax. The third act is a little cut rate Inception, sure, but at least it’s visually interesting. It also moves at a better clip. Sure, it gets a little slow in the second act, but at least its not the unholy slog the first one was.

There’s a tendency from movies aimed at teenagers or kids to assume their audience is stupid, which is what sinks them more often than not. This is no exception, with every point the movie has to make spelled out for us in triplicate, and a twist so incredibly obvious that I guessed it literally the very moment it was set up. If you’re looking for something to hold you over until the final Hunger Games movie, go read some Tamora Pierce and stay far away from this.

Elessar is a 25 year old Alaskan born cinephile and you could also try reading some Ursula K. Le Guin.

Pros:

– not badly directed or edited

– Shailene Woodley is really good

– visually interesting, if dramatically empty, climax

Cons:

– really dumb script and story

– most of the actors are phoning it in or out of their depth

– ends on a dumb twist and obvious cliffhanger

Rating: 1.5/5

]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/21/review-insurgent/feed/0Review: The Flash: ‘Out of Time’http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/20/review-the-flash-out-of-time/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/20/review-the-flash-out-of-time/#commentsSat, 21 Mar 2015 02:17:15 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35233[...]]]>So, as off-putting as the random few weeks gap on new episodes was, I’m at least glad the CW didn’t decide to spring it after this episode. They certainly could have, but it would have lead to me having to edit a lot of curse words out of this review.

This week was a pretty intense ride, leading to one Hell of a finish. It continues the show’s tendency to answer a few questions while raising some new ones, but the ones it picked this week were huge.

As a character I’ve spoken well of in previous reviews, this week marked a turning point for Harrison Wells. After all of the end of episode stingers and clues about his true nature, this week finally laid all the proverbial cards laid on the table. Thankfully, the reveal doesn’t really diminish everything we’ve seen built up about him thus far.

And while I’m giving points to the show’s resident fake cripple, he plays a part in probably the biggest part of this week’s episode. His confrontation with Cisco is probably one the strongest scenes in the series so far, and the performances by Cavanagh and Ramon only give more emotional weight to the moment. It all culminates in a scene where, even knowing what’s coming, it is genuinely painful to watch unfold – and I mean that in the best sense of the word.

This isn’t to say the rest of the episode isn’t worth noting, but really, that part of this week’s third act is one Hell of a reveal.

“For all the deceptions and secret plans, it’s the tears and fan rage that are the most rewarding part of my job.”

Besides the Wells reveal, this week sees a lot of plots coming back or upping their own antes in other ways. Probably the biggest surprise of these being in this week’s metahuman of the week- calling back to the show’s pilot episode, this week sees Mardon’s brother (Liam McIntyre) come back to Central City with an ax to grind and powers of his own.

Given the vendetta he has is, surprisingly, with Joe rather than Barry, this becomes a much trickier fight to resolve. This isn’t something where Barry can head off on his own to keep his loved ones safe ñ they’re the primary target and he’s just the guy who’s getting in the way of payback.

As a result of this, Jesse L. Martin really gets his chance to shine as well this week. While this vendetta also has an effect on Barry, it’s the toll it’s taking on Joe that the writers and Martin really build on. Seeing Barry having to reign Joe in from taking dangerous risks while still staying in character could have been a daunting prospect, but the show’s built up the two and their dynamic well enough to this point that the change-up still feels true to their natures.

“Wait…you want revenge for that guy? I mean, a lot of the audience has already forgotten him.You’re really sure about this?”

Conversely, this week decided to finally bring the proverbial plane in for a landing with Iris. For a while this week, I was actually pretty happy with the developments here – having her colleague at the paper (Roger Howarth) investigating Wells had potential to make for an interesting angle, even if it upped his mortality rate. Then the last act finally hit that moment every superhero seems obligated to fulfill: the reveal of the true identity and the romantic reconciliation.

This reveal wasn’t too bad per se, I’ll say that now. The problem is more the fact that it feels like the show really rushed this one to sync it up to these events for the sake of drama. I was liking the set-up the show had between Grant Gustin and Malese Jow these past few weeks, even knowing it wasn’t going to last, I was at least figuring we’d get a bit more time with the dynamic before it was ditched.

Then again, given the end of this week, I can see why they decided to jump the line. After hints of it throughout the season, this week finally opened the door for time travel. It’s a major element in the Wells reveal (won’t say here for spoilage), and it is an active part of the cliffhanger the show leaves off on this week.

“Okay, now let’s try back and to the left slowed down by 4000. So that we can actually confirm it’s back and to the left this time.”

Which is a reveal that is equal parts appealing and kind of disappointing. For starters, with ten episodes left to the season, this could be a turning point in where things go. Even before the time travel, this episode was shaping up to be a turning point anyway. It ends with just enough uncertain that I’m interested to see where it goes next week.

Unfortunately, it also makes a lot of the big emotional moments this week lose some of their sting for the moment. This timeline may still be the one Barry gets back to, but in the meantime, after some of the big reveals this week, to wind up in a setting where those didn’t happen makes for a bit of a let down.

Despite these grievances, I don’t mind saying this is still one of the best episodes this show has done to date. Even if this show does undo much of this week’s payoff, the subsequent reason for that payoff is handled as enough of a shocker to still make it feel worth the hour.

If this is a taste of the direction the show will be going in from here on out, or at least for the next few episodes, then I’m already well sold on seeing what happens in Rogue Time next week.

Till then.

Pros:

-Some great raising of the stakes in a lot of this episode

-Strong performances by Martin, Valdes, and Cavanagh

Cons:

-Overall, the Iris payoff isn’t bad, but it does feel pretty rushed

-Depending what comes of the time shift next week, this may have been for nothing – albeit well made nothing.

]]>http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/20/review-the-flash-out-of-time/feed/0Review: Wayward Volume 1: String Theoryhttp://moarpowah.com/2015/03/20/review-wayward-volume-1-string-theory/
http://moarpowah.com/2015/03/20/review-wayward-volume-1-string-theory/#commentsFri, 20 Mar 2015 16:00:28 +0000http://moarpowah.com/?p=35174[...]]]>Superheroes may be what’s dominating the box office right now, but they are definitely nothing new. While many are familiar with the huge pantheon of the Marvel and DC houses, there are still plenty of comics that exist in different and exciting worlds all their own, with no weird continuity errors or multiple universes, like the well-known Saga. This one just happens to be the latest in this long tradition but will it leave its mark on this storied history, or will it just be a footnote? No better place to start than the beginning.

Let’s take a look at Wayward Volume 1: String Theory.

A review copy was provided courtesy of Jim Zub.

The plot, in a nut shell, follows Rori Lane, a half-Irish, half-Japanese teenager moving to Japan to be with her mother. However, Rori soon finds that not only are her powers of direction (or rather, following long line of ghostly red thread) heightened but also that there are other super-powered compatriots among her colleagues.

There is spirit eater Shirai, literal cat lady Ayane, and Nikaida, someone who really need to keep his emotions in check for…reasons. The whole first volume more or less lays out everyone meeting each other, trying to figure out what’s going on, and setting up the main conflict. And what is that you may ask? That there are monsters getting riled up and fighting all over Tokyo, and they need to figure out why.

One of the big things the comic has working against it for me, and I am sure for others as well, is what I can only describe as the Weeaboo Factor. For those of you who did not have giant nerdy adolescence, a weeaboo is a person who is so enamored with Japanese culture: they consume mostly Japanese media, use Japanese words, and even to at an extreme level, want to be Japanese, totally simplify complex concepts and ignoring the faults of the society (all societies have faults, let be clear here). Reading this reminded me a lot of this portion of my teenage years and that made me cringe pretty hard. That doesn’t mean the portrayal isn’t realistic in terms of that people like this don’t exists or that this sort of fetishization isn’t something to be dealt with, but it can be a turn off do some people. Also, the less I say about how cliche the “alone” sign carve into Rori’s arm, the better.

There are lots of great things about this comic. For one, the art is fantastic on all fronts. The action is always clear and easy to follow, which works out well for someone who sometimes get confused when it comes to reading panels (i.e. me). The character designs, while definitely a bit more alternative in fashion, are strong and work well to give each character a clear tone and style that fits with their personality. And honestly, there’s just something about the aesthetic, especially in the coloring, of the work itself that just makes it great to look at without following the plot.

IT’S JUST SO PRETTY. SO, SO PRETTY.

The character themselves are interesting enough though we don’t get a lot of background on anyone except for Rori, and even that’s not as much as we usually get in terms of exposition. It’ll probably be further drawn out in later issues, but it could have benefitted from more explanation. Their powers are varied and distinct, which is an aspect that carries the story quite a bit, which will be interesting to see how they develop further.

The dialogue can occasionally feel a bit forced, like it was written for how adults remember teens talking rather than how teens actually talk. That will probably get smoothed out, but more importantly, the pacing is good which means that his comic has a long-term goal in mind for the story. Interactions between characters are well-defined early on, since Rori is sort of forced into the leadership role, and there’s the promise of learning of why all these different groups are falling into conflict, which will like draw on mythology and bring together old and new.

Well, beyond good guys are cute and villains are gross monsters.

What I see in this comic is potential, oozing out of every frame is lie in wait for the story to get going. It’s hard to make a real statement of good or bad when you’re still in the “meet the team” phase of a comic book. Still, the plot seems to be gearing up towards the end to a bigger picture narrative. So, tentatively I say it is good, but here’s hoping that Volume 2 lives up to the promise it is making here.